"We visted Mangia in September as a family of 7 (ages 20s-50s), after spending a couple of weeks on the east coast of Sicily.
Starting with the positives:
The hotel grounds are beautiful. We enjoyed sitting on the terrace by the sea and visiting the bars by the pool. Service at the bars can be slow, especially in a bigger group. The beds around the pool did go quickly, especially for the better quality beds, so you did have to be quick in the mornings.
We were worried about the food after seeing some negative reviews but the quality of the food was high and the prices were as we expected. We had vegetarians in our group and they had plenty of options. The sushi for dinner was really nice, looking over at Etna, and the cocktails here were the best at the hotel. The pizza making class was a highlight of our stay, thank you Claudia and Carmelo!
We made good use of the sporting facilities. We enjoyed using the paddle courts and the gym was small but has all you need. My partner and I took part in Sebastiano’s Pilates classes which we also enjoyed.
Negatives:
The rooms in the main block are small. They lack natural light and have poor ventilation. The aircon was not powerful and we had some restless nights.
Some of our family got upgraded to rooms with a terrace which if you can I would highly recommend! These rooms felt like a completely different hotel altogether.
The beach is tricky to walk around and the current gets very strong. Sea shoes are a must and it is not safe for children.
The main negative of our holiday was the treatment of guests (holiday makers), over a corporate group. We noticed mid-week that there was increasing amount of people from the same group round the pool and in restaurants, who had laptops and appeared to be on a work trip.
On the Friday there was a massive influx of guests (over-200) which we discovered to be from McKinsey’s Amsterdam office, who were having corporate party at the hotel. Guests were not informed of this. We only noticed a sign by the adults only pool saying it would be shut for a private event. However, during our dinner on Friday a massive firework display went off at 22:20. All guests jumped up, unaware of what was going on, we notices babies being woken up and people looking concerned. This went on for a while until the music began. As a 26-year old I am not usually one to complain about noise but the corporate party of probably over 200 people was extremely loud. These people were rude, my mum had an altercation with some of them who were verbally abusive and caused her distress.
We spoke to numerous guest the next day who were woken up in the night by the party. It went on till around 3am and we struggled to sleep. I cannot imagine what it was like for families with small children. There was a queue at the front desk in the middle of the night/ on the Saturday with guests making complaints.
Subsequently, the whole weekend was overrun by Mckinseys staff. Breakfast was packed and worst of all was the pool and beach areas. I have included images of the rubbish and debris left by McKinsey. It was upsetting walking around on Saturday morning seeing plastic debris in the ocean and in the wildlife (images attached). These guests did not seem to care. Having visited Ayia Napa as a teenager it felt comparable on the Saturday. These guests swapped the pool, sat on the edge of our beds and even had their own speakers. I felt intimated having to ask guests to move off my sunbed whilst on it (I have included images of the pool on this day). We noticed families sadly leaving the area.
Additionally, the hotel does not have the capacity or toilets for this kind of event. Over the weekend the toilets were constantly dirty, out of paper, with queues out the door. We spoke to management who tried to reassure the upset guests, but nothing was done as a result.
Finally, other reviews have mentioned there are a lot of wasps, especially at breakfast. Staff didn’t seem phased by this and told guests to move inside, whilst lots of tables were waving napkins and ducking, it didn’t make for a relaxing breakfast experience. There is also a big dog on the hotel grounds. We could hear it throughout our stay and one morning it chased me whilst on a jog. Luckily I was by the paddle courts and could shelter in there. Having 3 dogs in our house it is rare for me to feel intimidated but this made me feel uncomfortable.
Overall, we did enjoy parts of our holiday but we would not recommend it! There were many stressful occasions and having to keep speaking to management doesn’t make for an enjoyable stay."
